Kat and Dan earn places on prestigious Athlete to Coach Programme

Dan Purvis and Kat Driscoll have been accepted on to the UK Sport 'Athlete to Coach' Programme. 2012 bronze medal winner Dan and double Olympian Kat, who are both current members of our Great Britain senior squads, have already begun their journey on the programme which supports their ambitions towards being future world class coaches.

Their enrolment was fully supported by British Gymnastics as it forms a key part of our long-term plan recognising a commitment to support high-performance athletes preparing for life after competitive sport and also developing the next generation of coaches.

Performance Coach Developer Bobby Crutchley was part of the British Gymnastics performance team that supported Dan and Kat's successful applications, he said: “We are delighted that Dan and Kat have both been accepted onto the programme as it is a fantastic opportunity for them in the early stages of their coaching careers to get quality input in a great environment. Throughout the selection process it was clear that a key factor in getting them to this stage was the passion and dedication of the coaches they had worked with.”

The one year accelerated development opportunity is already underway and Kat and Dan have both taken to the programme with enthusiasm, Dan commenting: “It’s great to be part of the Athlete to Coach Programme. I look forward to learning and working with athletes from a range of different sports, including Kat, over the coming months. I am also looking forward to many new experiences and challenges which will ultimately make us better coaches at the end of the course.”

Kat sees the course as an opportunity for her to develop towards long term coaching ambitions, she said: “I’m so excited and proud to have been accepted onto the Athlete to Coach programme - this will give me the opportunity to not only develop the necessary skills I require to help me on the path to becoming a world class coach but also the opportunity to develop a support network of other elite athletes on the same journey. My dream is to run our junior programme one day and this will definitely help get closer to that goal.”